Why, trade or no trade, the Dolphins had a good week.
The Dolphins are about to regain some crucial players, while one of their future opponents has been weakened.
Leave it to Mike McDaniel to come up with a very unusual and colorful way to explain why the Miami Dolphins, despite not making a transaction, should be considered among the NFL trade deadline winners.
Simply put, the Dolphins resisted the urge to make a trade for a big-name star from another club, despite the fact that they have a legitimate chance of winning the Super Bowl, and that one extra piece could have made all the difference.
Here’s the reality: The Dolphins are about to get some additional pieces to their current roster, the one that’s been good enough to put together a 6-2 record. Those pieces are named Terron Armstead, Connor Williams, Xavien Howard and De’Von Achane, all of whom have or are on the verge of returning after missing a decent amount of playing time in recent weeks.
“We actually have several … the best trades that exist in the works,” McDaniel said. “You’re talking about getting players with no assets given from injury. So we’re in a great spot. … We’ve been playing some good football and then we have some players that are very good players that are returning. That means there’s a lot of people executing on all three phases at every position. Feel pretty good about that.”
McDaniel stated that the Dolphins were never close to completing a deal this week before the trade deadline on Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET.
Some players were shuffled about the NFL, but would any of them have made a substantial difference for the Dolphins other than adding depth? Have they made any more of an impact than Armstead, Howard, Williams, and Achane will when they return?
And, once again, there would have been a cost to pay to land a high-profile player like Chase Young, both in terms of draft pick compensation and what it would have cost to keep him beyond this year — at a time when the Dolphins are already facing some difficult decisions due to a glut of pending free agents and a lack of cap space.
So, while a contender seeking for that final piece is always a solid reason to make a deal, the Dolphins were in a decent position where they didn’t have to force anything — and that was the wise move.
Since we’ve already mentioned Chase Young, the trade deadline has altered the outlook for the Dolphins’ game versus the Commanders in Washington on December 3.
Looking ahead, the Commanders dealt not just Young to the San Francisco 49ers, but also fellow defensive end Montez Sweat to the Chicago Bears, both for 2024 Day 2 selection picks.
While the changes gave Washington draft money and prevented the need to re-sign upcoming free agents, they drastically weakened the team’s best part, a high-priced defensive line that also included Darryl Payne and Jonathan Allen.
The Dolphins’ main fear entering into the game would have been the Washington defensive line, but it’s just not the same right now.
Buffalo, on the other hand, made a very nice and major acquisition when it acquired Green Bay Packers cornerback Rasul Douglas in exchange for third and fifth-round picks.
Douglas will help cover a defensive vacuum left by Tre’Davious White’s Achilles tendon tear in the fourth quarter of Buffalo’s win over the Dolphins.
This has nothing to do with a trade, but the Dolphins game against the Las Vegas Raiders on Nov. 19 — after their game against Kansas City this week and their bye — took on a whole different look this week.
The Dolphins will be going a new head coach, interim head coach Antonio Pierce, and likely a new quarterback as well after the team decided to bench Jimmy Garoppolo in favor of rookie Aidan O’Connell.
Unless Garoppolo returns to the starting lineup before Nov. 19 — the Raiders face the Giants and the Jets over the next two weeks — it will remove an interesting storyline from the Miami-Las Vegas matchup, Mike McDaniel facing his former starting 49ers quarterback.
Ironically, the Raiders also went through a coaching change the last season the Dolphins faced them, but that switch from Jon Gruden to Rich Bisaccia in 2021 occurred after the Dolphins lost a 31-28 overtime decision in Las Vegas.
Leave a Reply